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Misguided U.S. bombardment killed 40 at wedding party, Afghans claim

The Afghan government has said 40 people were killed, many of them women and children, and around 100 wounded when U.S. planes attacked a remote village in central Afghanistan on July 1.

The government said wedding guests near the village of Deh Rawud were firing into the air — a tradition in Pashtun weddings — when they were mistakenly bombed.

The U.S. military says it responded to sustained, hostile fire from the ground and has launched a joint investigation with the Afghan government.

"Our people on the ground said it was a mistake on both sides," said the managing director of the Afghan Development Association. "The wedding guests knew there was a coalition operation going on in the area. Still they fired their guns into the air to celebrate the wedding."

He added,"The groom was a nephew of Mullah Anwar, who is famous in the province. Anwar is a friend of President Hamid Karzai."

In an unprecedented statement, the new Afghan government demanded July 2 that the United States take "all necessary measures" to avoid civilian casualties.

In a previous incident, U.S. bombing killed around 30 people in the provincial capital Tarin Kowt last October, officials and residents said.

U.S. forces also killed around 15 people in the same province in January in a firefight, which they later admitted was "ill-advised." Afghan officials said the Americans had mistakenly killed an anti-Taliban commander and many of his men.

In May, the U.S. army rejected reports it had mistakenly attacked a wedding party in Khost Province after mistaking traditional firing for an attack.


Shukan ST: July 12, 2002

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